Preschoolers and parents, head to a weekly Hand-in-Handsession resuming Jan. 11

Celebrate the Year of the Dragon with lion dances and crafts at My House Cultural Discovery “Chinese New Year Celebration”Jan. 20

Come cheer on the FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) Championship Robotics Tournament Jan. 21

Pack a bag for Deep Sea Sleepovers January 28

See an exciting IMAX® film that won’t leave you snoozing: Catch Bugs! A Rainforest Adventure when it returns Jan. 2; travel back to a whole new time and place with Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World; and dive in with SHARKS presented by Jean-Michael Cousteau.

The Museum is open with regular hours on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so make the most of your three-day weekend! See the solar system like never before at a Planetarium show

Billed as the biggest blockbuster exhibition to hit the Museum of Nature & Science since BODYWORLDS and making only its second stop in the United States,Planet Shark: Predator or Prey features explanations and examinations of almost every aspect of the shark. From evolution and biology to popular culture and the fin trade, this 12,000-square-foot five-gallery exhibition guides visitors through the murky myths and fascinating facts that have surrounded sharks for centuries.

One of nature’s oldest and most feared creatures, the shark also is one of the most misunderstood. Fishing pressure and media misrepresentation have put many species of this magnificent animal under serious threat of extinction. Planet Shark: Predator or Prey is a great educational step to help preserve these necessary apex predators.

Planet Shark: Predator or Prey requires a surcharge along with the purchase of MNS general exhibits admission. MNS members enjoy free general exhibits admission and reduced admission to Planet Shark: Predator or Prey.

NEW! See LIVE sharks and witness twice-weekly shark feedings, get a close up look at a shark dissection on Saturdays, and make a splash at Sharky Sunday on January 15 for a day of water-themed activities, craft projects, science demos and other hands-on fun.

TWIN FIN TIP: Maximize your sharky museum experience with the money-saving Twin Fin bundled ticket deal, which includes admission to Planet Shark: Predator or Prey and any IMAX® film including SHARKS.

Avoid lines by purchasing tickets online in advance. Check out the website for pictures, videos and more.

MORE WATERY SHARK FUN!

To enhance and extend your shark experience, MNS has added a 515-gallon aquarium display featuring LIVE sharks, twice-weekly shark feedings and so-cool Saturday shark dissections throughout the duration of the Planet Shark: Predator or Prey exhibit. And on January 15, Sharky Sunday will feature water-themed activities, crafts and more. All activities free to members and are included with the cost of general exhibits admission. For details, see below or check out the website.

It’s like a Sunday fun-day for shark lovers! Sharky Sundaywill make a splash with water-themed activities, craft projects, science demos and other hands-on fun that will have shark enthusiasts of all ages hungry for more. Learn about sharks, wildlife, engineering, conservation and underwater worlds, and take home souvenirs.DFW Marine Aquarium Society presents Chris Schreiber of The Georgia Aquarium
View Space Theater in the MNS Science Building
Sunday, January 15, from 1 – 3 p.m.

Join Chris Schriber, associate curator of fishes and invertebrates at the Georgia Aquarium, for brief talks about his field research in tagging, genetics and conservation. Schriber recently appeared on “Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin” collecting blood samples from wild whale sharks in Cancun.

Beginning February 5, Sharky Sunday will be held on select Sundays throughout the duration of the Planet Shark: Predator or Prey exhibit.

What do sharks eat, and how often do they get hungry? Learn about their diets and witness live shark feedings on Wednesdays and Fridays at 11 a.m. An aquarist will be on hand to answer questions and give a short talk.

LAST CHANCE – closes January 8!Can we build it? Yes we can! The beloved TV show comes to life in this exciting, interactive exhibit! Bob the Builder™ – Project: Build It! fosters creativity and coordination through open-ended, discovery-based games and activities. An immersive environment surrounds students with an array of objects, tools, materials, media, sounds and colors. This charming exhibit will really “build” curiosity, socialization and motor skills for preschoolers and young children!Bob the Builder is FREE for members and included with the cost of general admission for non-members.

Time is running out to register for Little Explorers where you and your young child (6 months – 4 years) can discover new creative skills together! The weekly program mixes sensory artistic activities, music and stories. Little Explorers will help your child gain confidence, develop social skills, build aesthetic awareness and improve physical capabilities.

Mondays from January 9 – March 19; Tuesdays from January 10 – February 28; Wednesdays from January 11 – February 29; Thursdays from January 12 – March 1
(NOTE: no sessions 1/16 MLK Day, 2/20 Presidents Day, 3/12 Spring Break)

Registration is open up until the business day before each session begins. (For example, the registration deadline for the sessions that begin Monday, Jan. 9 is Friday, January 6.) Please note: Only children who are enrolled in the program may attend. Additional infants and/or siblings must also enroll in order to participate. Click hereto register or call 214-428-5555 x 8.

Hand-in-Hand is a literacy-based drop-in program for adults and their preschoolers to imagine, explore and discover together. Each week, hear a story, get your wiggles out to music, create theme-related crafts and enjoy fun activities.

January 11 – “Frosty Shapes”
Explore shapes you see in winter & find out what happens when a little boy wakes up to find a winter wonderland. Listen along with “The Snowy Day’ by Erza Jack Keats. Create a really “cool” wintery craft!

January 18 – “Little Buckaroos”
Put on your favorite cowboy boots & dress in western attire to hit the dusty trail for our rodeo round-up story time. Hear a new twist on a favorite folktale, “The Gingerbread Cowboy” by Janet Squires. Make a western pony craft!

January 25 – “Suit Yourself”
How do you keep warm in winter? Hear how as you listen along with the repetition and rhyme of “The Jacket I Wear in the Snow” by Shirley Neitzel.

Note: Dates may be subject to change without notice.
Hand-in-Hand is free to members and included with the cost of general admission for non-members.

MY HOUSE CULTURAL DISCOVERY “CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION”
MNS Children’s Museum (1318 S. 2nd Ave. in Fair Park)
Friday, January 20, from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.To celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year, enjoy “lion dance” performers with Chin Woo, Inc. at 11:30 a.m., followed by a Chinese New Year Celebration and craft time until 1 p.m.

Discover how people in your community celebrate traditional holidays while exploring decoration, dress, play foods and literature.

My House Cultural Discovery is free for members and included with the cost of general admission for non-members.

Inspiring young people to be science and technology leaders, FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) engages youth through exciting, mentor-based programs that build math, science and technology skills. FLL is one of four competitive levels designed by FIRST, using LEGO® Mindstorms NXT robotics kids as its platform. Aimed at an international audience of students ages 9 through 14, this competition teaches real-world problem solving through engineering design and teamwork.

In 2008, the Museum of Nature & Science became the Affiliate and Operational Partner for the North Texas Region. The Museum coordinates and oversees all FLL events for the North Texas area. The largest of these events is the Regional Championship Tournament, typically held in January of each year.

FIRST, the Museum of Nature & Science, The Hockaday School, and the FLL Committee welcome you to join us at the 2011 North Texas FIRST LEGO® League Championship Robotics Tournament! Competition is open to the public, and admission is free.

Do you know why sharks have two more senses than humans? Find out the answer to this and other fishy questions at a Deep Sea sleepover that won’t leave you all wet.

Experience the wonders of the world like never before with plenty of adventure that unfolds under the cover of night. Enjoy a late-night pizza snack, auditorium show, hands-on workshop, exhibit tour, scavenger hunt through exhibits, continental breakfast in the morning plus an eye-opening IMAX® film!

MNS sleepovers are great for schools, scout troops, youth groups, sports teams, sororities and fraternities – any group that wants to bond and have fun in an extra-special environment. Sleepovers focus on learning and team building while providing safe, customized fun for different age groups – kids, teens and young adults!

To sign up for the Deep Sea sleepover or for information on other scheduled sleepovers, call 972-201-0618, email sleepovers@natureandscience.org or visit our website.

IMAX®
TI Founders IMAX® Theater, MNS Science Building (1318 S. 2nd Ave. in Fair Park)
BUGS! A RAINFOREST ADVENTURE
January 2 – February 29, 2012 Returning January 2! View the birth of hundreds of praying mantis and watch as one of them snaps up a fly for its dinner. Witness the rebirth of a butterfly as it wriggles free of its cocoon and spreads its wings for the first time. With time-lapse photography on the giant screen, every detail of this final stage of metamorphosis is clear to the naked eye.Bugs!

explores a variety of tropical animals including tarantulas, scorpions, vipers and jungle nymphs and their battles against each other and their environment to thrive. In this tiny world everything comes with a struggle. Get a ringside seat for a horn-to-horn combat as rhinoceros beetles battle for the attention of a female, race against the clock with butterflies that have just days to find a mate, and dodge a million bats as they flit through the jungle on a nighttime feast. It’s survival of the fittest!Details, photos and trailers for the film are available on the Official Bugs! site.

SEAREX: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD
Through May 25, 2012

“Sea Rex” ruled the seas long before dinosaurs roamed the earth! Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World is the ultimate IMAX® experience that transports viewers to a whole new time and place. The story centers on a tour of a modern-day aquatic center. Soon the movie whisks you back through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods to discover creatures such as the powerful Liopleurodon, the long-necked Elasmosaurus, the “eye-lizard” Ophthalmosaurus, the ferocious Prognathodon and the massive Shonisaurus.

Details, photos and trailers for the film are available on the Official Sea Rex site.

SHARKS
Through May 25, 2012

Presented by Jean-Michel Cousteau, SHARKS is a breathtaking film experience that offers audiences an astonishing up-close encounter with the lions and tigers of the ocean. Come face-to-face with a multitude of shark species, including the great white, hammerhead and whale shark. Witness them as they really are – not wicked, man-eating creatures, but wild, fascinating and endangered animals. Join an expert team of ocean explorers on this unique around-the-globe expedition documenting the life of the ultimate predator.

View the trailer and read the reviews at the official SHARKS site.

DID YOU KNOW? Pair any IMAX® film including SHARKS with the massive Planet Shark: Predator or Prey exhibition, and save with the Twin Finticket bundle deal!Show times and online tickets for IMAX® films are available by clicking here.

Experience the wonders of nighttime star-gazing during the day! The MNS Planetarium offers the ideal way to learn all the beautiful names for those bright objects in the sky. Planetarium shows include Universe, Wonders of the Universe, Texas Night Sky, Secrets of the Sun, and Cosmic Safari.The Planetarium will be open to the public with Saturday schedule Monday, January 16, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Descriptions of each show, showtimes and advance tickets for the Planetarium are available online.

Check out amazing photography of one of North Texas’ most diverse ecosystems – the Trinity River. The display will feature winning photographs from the 2009 and 2010 Trinity River Corridor Project contests, plus a rotating selection of photographs from the 2011 winners.

The exhibition is free for members and included with the cost of general admission for non-members.

The Museum of Nature & Science campus is located in Fair Park. The Science Building is at 1318 S. 2nd Ave., the Nature Building is at 3535 Grand Ave., and the Planetarium is at 1620 First Ave., Dallas, TX, 75210. Access MNS from Interstate 30 near downtown Dallas. Parking is inside Fair Park via Gate 5 or Gate 6 and is always free, except during State Fair. MNS can also be accessed via the new DART Green Line with stops at MLK, Jr. and Fair Park stations.